Turbidites and Associated Deep-Water Facies

Deep-water siliciclastic reservoirs are a major high potential play. As of December 1994, more than 170 wildcats have been drilled in the deep-water Gulf of Mexico with thirty announced discoveries. Already more than 2.2 BOE have been discovered in deep water gravity-flow sands of Gulf of Mexico slope basins. The initiation of subsalt exploration adds importance to understanding deep-water sands, because most of the potential reservoirs will be of gravity-flow origin. Additionally, recent large deep-water sand discoveries in the Paleogene of the North Sea and in the Tertiary of the western submarine slopes of Africa demonstrate the continued worldwide applicability of the turbidite play. This SEPM Core Workshop 20 on Turbidites and Associated Deep-Water Facies has been assembled to examine the sediment and rocks deposited within eight slope basins of the Gulf of Mexico. Turbidite is the most common word used to describe the sediment and rocks cored, but careful reading demonstrates that slumps, debris flows, high-density and low-density turbidites, and bottom-current reworked sediments are all recognized. These data sets are the focus of this SEPM Core Workshop and form the basis for evaluating different existing models and formulating new models for deposition of the deep-water Gulf of Mexico sands.